Zimbabwe faces nationwide electricity blackout: An urgent need for policy reform
For the past two months (September and October, 2022) there has been unending nation-wide power-cuts in Zimbabwe. But as for the explanations why the situation has come to be this devastating. A lot of explanations by different scholars including the government officials, the ministry of energy and also a plethora of writers that have written on this burning issue. Zimbabwe is a country in the southern part of Africa with a population of 15 million people. According to the new World Bank country classifications by income level (2022-2023), the country is classified as a lower-middle income country. Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of Africa. It shares borders with South Africa to the south, Zambia to the northwest, Mozambique to the east and Botswana to the west.
According to the Minister of Energy, Soda Zhemu, the nationwide power shortages in Zimbabwe have been due to the surge in electricity imports from the neighboring South Africa which overloaded its network causing generating plants to fail. The hydropower affected output at the Kariba hydropower plant and the coal-fired Hwange facility. It is imperative to note that Zimbabwe heavily relies on its one and only hydropower plant, that is, the Kariba South Power Station. This is the biggest power generation plant the country has, generating 1050 megawatts (MW) and other four thermal power stations which includes the Hwange Power Station as the largest coal-fired power station with 920MW as the Africa Report (2019) acknowledges.
A report by Bloomberg (2022), also supports how the Minister asserted how electricity demand in the country is outweighing internal power-generation capacity. He further gives how Kariba produces an electricity capacity of approximately 1,018 megawatts of electricity, compared to the national consumption which accounts for approximately 2,000 megawatts. He further explained that these shortages and power-cuts experienced has been because the country does not produce enough of its own power and relies heavily on imports from neighboring power especially from South Africa, Zambia and Mozambique. Zimbabwe imports power from Eskom and Mozambique’s Hydro Cahora Bassa (HCB). According to the Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority (ZERA), in 2020, it imported at least 30% of its power requirements.
Supporting the above argument, is John Robertson, a Harare-based economist who asserted how the shortages of electricity in Zimbabwe cannot be left without finding solutions to them as they have aided the already devastating economic situation which cannot prolong these power-cuts. He added that if the issue is not resolved, it might set limits to economic growth considering how South Africa, which is usually the supplier to Zimbabwe’s electricity, is facing the challenges of power. According to South Africa’s ESKOM power utility, it has kept the lights off as a way of containing emergency generation reserves. ESKOM says it has been implementing scheduled blackouts due to the former hence Zimbabwe has been affected as it depends on electricity from South Africa. But the bigger question to look at the Zimbabwe issue of electricity cuts is to understand that this issue is not a new issue but it has gone for nearly two decades.
Tracing the issue of electricity in Zimbabwe
This is not the first time that Zimbabweans have experienced power cuts, the issue of this electricity supply challenge has occurred for the past two decades, if not for more. A report from Bommberg (2021) asserts how between the years 2008 to 2009, Zimbabwe failed to import electricity due to hyperinflation which reached its peak with 950%. This saw disruptions in the electricity supply in the country due to the devaluation of the Zimbabwean dollar then. In 2019, the electricity supply company, the Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC) introduced a policy which was very unpopular with the citizens of Zimbabwe where it introduced the 18-hour schedules for load shedding of electricity.
This was done per city or town where electricity was deliberately switched off as a way of moderating the insufficient electricity supply in the country. This company's explanation for the former was that part of the reason was the 2019 drought that Zimbabwe experienced which according to them led to a decrease in water levels in the Kariba Dam thus had a ripple effect on the supply of electricity. The other explanation was the decline in imports due to outstanding debts Zimbabwe has, especially to Mozambique HCB ( Hidroelectrica de Cahora Bassa) and to South Africa’s ESKOM.
The indigenous explanation for this shortage of electricity in Zimbabwe have been found in a report by Africa Report (2019) which mentions the issue of the ageing equipment within the power stations which makes it very difficult to generate power. According to ZETDC in that report the country needs an average power demand of about 1735MW, yet the power utility company’s total power supply currently ranges from 1240MW to 1600MW. This has also been a major challenge contributing to these power cuts in the country.
Impacts of Electricity Shortages in Zimbabwe
The shortages and power cuts that are currently facing Zimbabwe have disrupted business especially to the e-business sectors. Companies that work online have closed down their organizations as the business environment has not been conducive. Other online businesses have faced challenges and turned to the use of generators which is usually also very expensive noting how the prices for the diesel has sharply increased. The use of generators fuels the costs of running businesses as most fuel service stations only sell fuel in foreign currency and at a very expensive rate. According to ZERA, as of 8 September, a litre of petrol trades at $1.38, while a litre of diesel trades at $1.34 making it very difficult for business to prevail. Moreover, power cuts have severely affected many businesses in the country as power is usually restored at night for a few hours, sometimes even not restored. Most people have not been able to work given these circumstances.
A typical example is a circular which was published in mid-June 2022, by one of the 5-star hotels in Zimbabwe, stating how they have been operating on generator power for about a week and were now offering guests buckets of hot water to bath with. This is also one of the effects of the increased power cuts in Zimbabwe and how it has affected businesses inter alia.
The electricity supply company of Zimbabwe has also increased electricity bills and this has caused a strain even to the general citizens of Zimbabwe. According to a report by All Africa (2022), ZETDC also updated electricity tariffs as of September 2022. The tariffs include a REA levy of 6% which accounts for an increase of 45% from the previous one.
To add is also a report that was given by Crisis 24 that these prolonged power-cuts can have negative impacts on commercial and communications disruptions which will not be possible where electricity is not available. They added how this has also affected and disrupted cellular and mobile services; traffic disruptions and longer driving hours due to delays and/or the malfunctioning traffic signals. Of much importance mentioned was the issue of security threats during outages. The former can increase high criminal rates during these electricity outages.
Need for Electricity Policy Reform in Zimbabwe
The electricity challenges being experienced in the country has been so worrisome. This happens to a country where there exists a ministry and institutions whose roles are to foresee the equal supply and distribution of electricity to its citizens. The electricity challenges in Zimbabwe have not only disrupted business and lowered the economy, but it has also extended to the socio-economic challenges being faced in the country. These range from closure of business leaving the whole masses in poverty and unemployment, the issue of security threats that have also followed due to the severe power cuts that have been existing in Zimbabwe. To make matters worse is that for the past two decades scholars have written on the issue of electricity. The government of Zimbabwe needs to take ownership and deal with the issue of electricity in its country. The government has asserted how Zimbabwe heavily relies on imports from South Africa and Mozambique. The electricity shortages in South Africa as an example have actually exposed Zimbabwe and how its policy to deal with electricity challenges is lacking. The government of Zimbabwe need not to blame other countries for its failure in policy but rather take ownership and fix the issue in its country. There is also a need to address the issue of the aging infrastructure in its power plants.
References
https://theconversation.com/quick-fix-solutions-to-zimbabwes-huge-electricity-crisis-118209
https://allafrica.com/stories/202209290007.html
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-zimbabwe-economy-power-idUSKCN1UR4SA